I was watching LOOKING FOR ERIC the other week, in which the lead character is given help in sorting his life out by a vision of Eric Cantona, spouting his trademark Gallic philosophical advice; "The seagulls follow the trawler because they believe sardines will be thrown into the sea".
It reminded me of a film called PLAY IT AGAIN SAM, based on a play by Woody Allen, in which he receives advice on his lovelife from the spirit of Humphrey Bogart, and features a wonderful spoof of the ending of CASABLANCA.
It is a popular concept in film, with Christian Slater's character in TRUE ROMANCE listening to Elvis, or John Cusack getting a song from The Boss Bruce Springsteen in HIGH FIDELITY
So it got me thinking, who (from the world of film) would I want to appear and give me advice?
Would it be Yoda? Small enough to fit in backpack but I think his random sentence construction might get on my nerves after a bit? Someone like Alan Rickman or Christopher Walken has a great voice to dispense a fountain of knowledge.
I managed to narrow it down to four, with a mixture of real-life people and fictional film characters:
1. Bruce Campbell - The Ultimate B-Movie legend and Ash from Evil Dead 2, 'The Chin' would guide me through any situation with a great one-liner and deadpan delivery, "Groovy".
2. The Dude - One of the most quotable characters of all time (I feel bad about not including Ron Burgundy on the list), his laid-back attitude to life would be just the tonic (or White Russian) to the stresses of everyday life, plus we could always go bowling.
3. Malcolm Tucker (from In The Loop) - Spot on advice is assured but possibly too harsh and profane to be considered positive reinforcement!
4. Quentin Tarantino - his encyclopedic knowledge of films could help him dispense just the right piece of advice on how to deal with certain situations... or wax lyrical on the homoerotic subtext of Top Gun
So, who would you want as your self-help guru?
